Prior to doing a proper writeup on Geir Jenssen, I listened to all of his grandiose works. Twice. OK, maybe not all. Jenssen's discography does not only span albums under his most famous moniker, Biosphere. There is his debut album, The North Pole By Submarine (SSR, 1989) as Bleep; two volumes of The Fires of Ork in collaboration with Pete Namlook (Fax, 1993 & 2000); two releases with The Higher Intelligence Agency, Polar Sequences (Beyond, 1996) and Birmingham Frequencies (Headphone 2000); an album, Nordheim Transformed (Rune Grammofon, 1998), with Deathprod; and finally a collection of field recordings from Tibet, Cho Oyu (Ash International, 2006), under his real name. And that's just scratching the surface. However, after spending an entire week (!) revisiting Jenssen's contributions towards the evolution of ambient sound as we know it today, I settled picking Shenzhou for this writeup. That one, my friends, is a masterpiece. Shenzhou explores more than just dark atmospheres and loop based hypnotic soundscapes. Here Jenssen does something many musicians have tried to accomplish - use classical music as the main ingredient, but without being too overbearing, obvious, or just for its mere sake. In Shenzhou, Jenssen constructs haunting environmental passages based on orchestral works by Claude Debussy, La Mer (The Sea) and Jeux. During the beatless layers of lush pads, deep sonic bass, and dusty vinyl samples of strings and woodwinds, Jenssen builds on meditative templates inflicting a trance-like state for the mind relying on its pattern recognition capabilities. The subliminal waves of euphoria wash over the timeless expansion of sound throughout the universe of the void. The subtle contributions of Jenssen's own sound design only enhance Debussy's already melancholic impressionist approach. Purely genius. This work solidifies Biosphere's impact on ambient movement. Previously, Jennsen has been known to pioneer his own personal style - arctic ambient. The latter is thematically named for Jenssen's geographical and minimalist attributes. Born in Tromsø, a city in the Arctic Circle of Norway, Jenssen evoked the sense of isolation and arctic calm, more prominent in his earlier albums like Substrata (All Saints Records, 1997) and above mentioned Polar Sequences. But in Shenzhou the ice melts away into the ocean of sound. And with it we drift... and we drift... For a sensory deprived in-vacuum experience, pick up Biosphere's Autour de la Lune (Touch, 2004) [headphones with deep bass response recommended], as well as his latest, Dropsonde (Touch 2006). In 2007, Norwegian Beatservice Records, re-released the first three of Biosphere's albums - Microgravity, Patashnik, and Insomnia. Highly recommended for the likes of Gas, PanAmerican, Steve Roach, Robert Henke, Deaf Center and Murcof.

I don't really have much to add to prior reviewers, who describe this music very well, but I have to laud this album by Biosphere. In addition to big, active music, I need quiet, subtle music to sooth me - sometimes at work, sometimes at night before going to sleep. This may be the best music for that job I've ever encountered in 25 years of avid music searching. It is not the new age you hear while getting a massage nor challenging-to-listen to electronica, with bleeps and blips. Shenzou is more in the line of early loop masters, such as John Cage, with the idea that repeating samples of recorded material can produce a music of its own - in this case, very short snippets of Debussy. Or, in the vein of ambient music first articulated by Brian Eno - slowly unfolding, never trying to arrive somewhere, but either for active or passive listening. No melody stands out at first, the loops floating above understated rhythm and familiar harmonies. But, listen long enough and a kind of melody comes out. It took me a few hearings to understand what Biosphere is doing here - when I got it, I became hooked. Without a doubt my best find this year.

This is great electronica. Slow-mo loop fragments of Debussy weave in and out of Biosphere's minimalist soundscapes. It's great stuff. I wasn't enthralled by Substrata but this and Cirque are excellent. Highly recommended.

This is a very unique kind of fusion, Geir Jenssen is a very original artist. He specializes in the electronic scene, but he cannot be called a "DJ" he is a true MUSICIAN, an artist. This album is an experimental hour worth of ambient fused with loops of, what I believe are samples of Claude Debussy's classical works (afterall, this album is based on his works)

This is quite a relaxing and soothing piece of an album. The soundscapes are very dark and gloomy. While I love the whole work, the standouts for me are "Ancient Campfire" and "Path Leading To The High Grass" the latter of which is absolutely amazing I think.

sample it, and see if this is what you want to buy - it certainly is for the seekers of something original.

The title, Shenzhou, means Divine Vessel (or Divine Craft) in Chinese-- no other title could be more apt. Jenssen's re-working of Debussy is nothing short of masterful. Each Biosphere album seems to have a destination in mind with regards to its content (Cirque saw us on glaciers, Autour Dela Lune took us to the moon, etc), and this is no exception. Here, Geir puts us on a boat gliding effortlessly through a fall forest-- the colors are warm, the ride is smooth with just a touch of a nip in the air. Fantastic.